Bojan Dubljevic

Knicks, Blazers, Sixers, Hornets Officially Complete Four-Team Trade

The Knicks, Trail Blazers, Sixers, and Hornets have folded two separate trade agreements into a single four-team trade, with press releases from New York and Portland confirming that the deal is official.

The trade combines the Knicks’ acquisition of Josh Hart from Portland with the three-team trade agreement that sends Matisse Thybulle to the Blazers and Jalen McDaniels to the 76ers. Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice first reported (via Twitter) that the two deals would be combined into one.

Here are the full terms of the trade:

  • Knicks acquire Josh Hart, the draft rights to Bojan Dubljevic (from Trail Blazers), and the draft rights to Daniel Diez (from Trail Blazers).
  • Trail Blazers acquire Matisse Thybulle, Cam Reddish, Ryan Arcidiacono, the Knicks’ 2023 first-round pick (top-14 protected), and the draft rights to Ante Tomic (from Knicks).
  • Sixers acquire Jalen McDaniels, the Knicks’ 2024 second-round pick (from Hornets), and the Trail Blazers’ 2029 second-round pick.
  • Hornets acquire Svi Mykhailiuk, either the Hornets’, Hawks’, or Nets’ 2023 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable; from Sixers), and either the Pelicans’ or Trail Blazers’ 2027 second-round pick (whichever is most favorable; from Trail Blazers).

The deal expanded slightly to include the draft rights of three draft-and-stash players, but otherwise looks the same as what was previously reported.

As expected, Portland waived Greg Brown to help open up the necessary roster spots for their incoming players.

For more details on the deal, check out our full stories on the Knicks/Blazers half of the trade, as well as the Blazers/Sixers/Hornets portion.

Western Notes: Blazers, Dubljevic, Oubre, Thunder, Mavs

Montenegrin big man Bojan Dubljevic has signed a long-term extension with Spain’s Valencia Basket, reaching a deal that will add three years and a fourth-year team option to his current contract (hat tip to Sportando).

Dubljevic’s NBA rights belong to the Trail Blazers, who acquired them from Minnesota in the Jake Layman sign-and-trade last summer. Although he’s still just 28 years old, Dubljevic’s new extension with Valencia further reduces the odds that he’ll ever suit up for an NBA team. Portland seems more likely to eventually flip the veteran’s rights in another trade than to actually sign him.

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

  • Veteran agent Torrel Harris of Unique Sports Management has signed Suns forward Kelly Oubre to a management contract, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Harris’ son is Sixers forward Tobias Harris, who is his father’s most recognizable client.
  • The Thunder became one of the last NBA teams to announce a plan to assist their arena workers financially, indicating in a press release that they’ll provide aid to part-time employees for games that would have worked the team’s final seven home games.
  • The Mavericks, whose training facility has been closed since March 12, have shifted their focus from basketball to community outreach amidst the coronavirus pandemic. Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News has the story and the details.

Wolves Acquire Blazers RFA Jake Layman In Sign-And-Trade

JULY 8: The Timberwolves and Blazers have issued press releases to confirm that the trade is official. Portland will generate a small trade exception in the deal.

JULY 3: The Timberwolves have reached a deal to sign forward Jake Layman to a three-year, $11.5MM contract, agent Mark Bartelstein tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Layman is a restricted free agent whose rights are held by the Trail Blazers, but he won’t be signing an offer sheet. Instead, Minnesota will acquire him from Portland via a sign-and-trade arrangement, according to Wojnarowski.

“We’re extremely appreciative of how hard (Blazers president of basketball operations) Neil Olshey worked with us to accommodate what we were trying to accomplish in this sign and trade,” Bartelstein told Wojnarowski (Twitter links). “The deal couldn’t have happened without the Blazers looking out for Jake’s best interests.”

The Blazers will receive the draft rights to 2013 second-rounder Bojan Dubljevic in the deal, tweets Darren Wolfson of SKOR North.

Layman, 25, has spent the first three seasons of his NBA career in Portland after being selected with the 47th pick of the 2016 draft. He played a limited role in his first two seasons, but claimed a regular spot in the Blazers’ rotation in 2018/19, averaging 7.6 PPG and 3.1 RPG with a .509/.326/.704 shooting line in 71 games (18.7 MPG).

Minnesota lost some shooting in its frontcourt by agreeing to trade Dario Saric to Phoenix and watching Anthony Tolliver sign with the Blazers. The Wolves will presumably look to replace those departed players with Layman and Noah Vonleh, who agreed to a deal with Minnesota earlier this week.

Speaking of Saric, the trade sending him to the Suns will need to be completed before the Wolves’ deal with the Blazers, since Layman will slot into the trade exception created by Saric’s departure, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). That exception will be worth $3.48MM, so Layman’s starting salary is permitted to start at $3.58MM (trade exceptions have an extra $100K cushion).

The Wolves, whose interest in Layman was first reported by Darren Wolfson on Tuesday, will be hard-capped at $138.9MM for the 2019/20 league year as a result of acquiring a player via sign-and-trade.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Western Notes: D-League, Jazz, Dubljevic

The Jazz have officially acquired the Idaho Stampede, becoming the eighth NBA team to fully own and operate their own D-League franchise, the team announced. The Stampede have also signed a one-year contract extension with the downtown arena and will continue to play in Boise, Idaho for the 2015/16 season. “Our purchase of an NBA D-League team reflects the value we place on having an exclusive affiliate for player development and building the scope of our basketball operations to support the Jazz,” said Jazz president Randy Rigby. “It is a tremendous commitment from the Miller family to make this acquisition that will contribute to our pursuit of becoming a championship-caliber team.” Idaho was already Utah’s affiliate, but now the Jazz will control both the basketball operations and business sides of the D-League franchise.

Here’s more from Utah:

  • Greg Miller, the former CEO of the Miller Management Corporation that controls the Jazz, believes that Utah has a bright future, Mike Sorensen of The Deseret News writes. Miller ended his seven-year tenure as CEO earlier this month. “Everywhere I go people want to talk about the Jazz and I tell them we are in a period where when we look back on it, we’ll say that this was the beginning of a very special era,’’ Miller said.
  • Bojan Dubljevic, whose rights are owned by the Timberwolves, will be with Valencia of the Euroleague for at least the next two seasons without the possibility of arranging a buyout, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities reports (Twitter link). The forward was selected by Minnesota with the No. 59 overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft.
  • Utah had an option in its contract with the Stampede, giving the Jazz the ability to buy the D-League team, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today tweets. Utah was interested in purchasing Idaho at start of this season, Zillgitt adds.

Western Notes: Conley, Powell, Gentry

The five-year, $45 million deal that the Grizzlies inked Mike Conley to is looked upon as one of the great bargains around the league, and has allowed Memphis to add high-level role players to its roster without entering luxury tax territory, Amin Elhassan of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) writes. His deal will also allow the team to offer Marc Gasol a max contract this summer when he hits free agency, Elhassan adds. But it’s when Conley’s contract expires in 2016 that he’ll be expensive to retain, and the veteran could command a salary in the $25MM per season range, the ESPN scribe notes.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

  • The Mavericks have once again recalled big man Dwight Powell from the Texas Legends, their D-League affiliate, Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com reports (Twitter link). This concludes Powell’s ninth journey of the season to the D-League.
  • Bojan Dubljevic extended his contract with Valencia of Spain for three more seasons, his agent Misko Raznatovic announced via Twitter. The final season of the deal includes a mutual option, Raznatovic added. Dubljevic, 23, is a draft-and-stash pick who was selected with the No. 59 overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft by the Wolves, who still hold his rights.
  • The success that the Warriors have enjoyed this season could lead to another head coaching opportunity for Golden State associate coach Alvin Gentry, Diamond Leung of The Bay Area News Group writes. Gentry has coached four different teams and owns a lifetime record of 335-370.
  • Gentry admits that he would like another opportunity to be a head coach, but added that he is very happy with the Warriors organization, Leung notes. If there’s a good situation, yeah, I would like to be a head coach again,” Gentry said. “But it would have to be a situation that would have to be very good. What we got here is very special, and I’ve been in the league long enough to know that I wouldn’t want to go into a situation that I didn’t think had potential to be this way.

Wolfson On Mayo, Budinger, Belinelli, Iguodala

Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities covers a broad spectrum of Minnesota sports in his weekly Scoops column, but with the NBA draft just completed and free agency about to start, his focus this week is on the Timberwolves. Let's dive in:

  • Wolfson writes that Wolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders may meet with O.J. Mayo this week, and Wolfson adds via Twitter that there's a strong belief that the meeting will indeed take place, around the same time Saunders meets with Chase Budinger.
  • Minnesota is also considering Marco Belinelli.
  • The Wolves are unlikely to go after Andre Iguodala, and his high price tag isn't the only reason.
  • A source tells Wolfson that while the Wolves like Bucks big man Ekpe Udoh, who was rumored this week to be part of a trade for Luke Ridnour, the team is getting plenty of offers for Ridnour, and Minnesota may wind up with a more attractive player than Udoh in return.
  • Bojan Dubljevic, whom the Wolves took 59th overall, will remain in Europe for at least two more years.
  • Another rumor around draft time had the Wolves swapping the No. 26 pick for MarShon Brooks, but such a deal was "never that close," Wolfson writes.
  • Greg Stiemsma has left agent Mike Naiditch, and the Priority Sports Agency will now handle his representation.